Moving to Hawaii with a dog or cat

Hawaii's pet entry program, step by step

These are the requirements for Direct Airport Release and 5 Day Or Less, from the state's checklists. The order matters.

1. Microchip

Your pet needs a working microchip, implanted before the rabies blood test. If your pet already has a chip, ask your vet to scan it and check that it reads, before the blood draw.

2. Two rabies vaccinations

Your pet needs at least two rabies vaccinations in its life, more than 30 days apart. The most recent one must be given more than 30 days before arrival and still be current on the day your pet lands. Many adult pets already have two. Puppies and kittens, and pets that have only had one shot, need time for the second.

3. The rabies blood test (OIE-FAVN)

Your vet draws blood and sends it to an approved lab for the OIE-FAVN rabies antibody test. The approved labs are at Auburn University, Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, and the Department of Defense lab in Texas. The result must be 0.5 IU/ml or more. Hawaii does not accept a RFFIT test, so make sure your vet orders the FAVN.

Results can take a while. The Neighbor Island checklist warns that "test results may be delayed for 6 to 8 weeks". This is the step that most often decides your moving date.

A passing result is good for a long time: the day after the lab received the sample must be no more than 36 months before your pet arrives.

4. The 30-day wait

Your pet cannot arrive until 30 days have passed, counted from the day after the lab received the blood sample. The state is very clear: arriving before the waiting period ends means your pet is held in quarantine until it qualifies, and "there are no exceptions".

5. Health certificate within 14 days

A vet examines your pet and signs a health certificate within 14 days of arrival. The state wants the original, in English, with the rabies vaccine details on it. A photocopy is not accepted. The airline also needs a health certificate within 14 days for dogs and cats flying to Hawaii, so one certificate does both jobs.

6. Tick treatment within 14 days

A vet treats your pet with a long-acting tick product within 14 days of arrival, and writes the product name and the date on the health certificate. The Honolulu checklist names Revolution as not acceptable, so check the product with your vet. Most people do it at the same visit as the health certificate.

7. The import form and documents

You fill in the Dog and Cat Import Form AQS-279 and send it to the Animal Quarantine Station with two original rabies certificates signed in ink and the program fee, paid by cashier's check or money order. The documents must arrive at the station 10 days or more before your pet lands in Honolulu. For Kona and Maui it is 30 days or more (see below).

The legal owner must be named on the Hawaii import form. A transport company can be listed as an authorized handler, never as the owner.

8. Land in Honolulu by 3:30 pm

Inspections for dogs and cats at Honolulu airport run from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm every day, weekends and holidays included. The state asks owners to arrange flights that arrive by 3:30 pm. A pet that lands later is held overnight and must be picked up by 10:00 am the next morning, or it moves to the 5 Day Or Less program.

Flying your pet from Seattle to Hawaii

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines both fly from Seattle to Hawaii. Since their merger they share one pet policy, and a pet flying on its own travels as cargo through Alaska Air Cargo. The flight from Seattle to Honolulu is about 6 hours.

• Only dogs and cats can fly in the hold or as cargo to Hawaii.
• Health certificate: within 14 days for dogs and cats flying to Hawaii, plus a rabies certificate.
• Crate: an airline approved hard kennel, with pet and kennel together up to 150 lb. Which kennel sizes fit the wide-body aircraft on some Hawaii flights is not published, so we check the aircraft and the crate for your flight. See airline pet crates.
• Snub-nosed breeds cannot fly in the hold to Hawaii, on Alaska or Hawaiian. See snub-nosed breeds and flying.
• Temperature: the airline generally flies pets in the hold only when the forecast is between 45°F and 85°F at every airport on the trip. Seattle, Honolulu, Kona and Maui are not on the airline's summer limit list, but storms can close Hawaii airports to pets for a day or two at short notice.
• Arrival time: we pick a flight that lands in Honolulu by 3:30 pm, so your pet can be inspected the same day.

Flying with your pet instead? Small dogs and cats can fly in the cabin, and bigger ones as checked baggage on your flight. The airline does not let dogs, cats or rabbits arrive in Honolulu before 8:00 am or after 10:00 pm. See the Hawaiian Airlines pet policy and the Alaska Airlines pet policy.